TNFOTB's 32g Biocube Build a.k.a Clownfish Paradise (A Magnifica Dominated Reef)

[The new fish on the block]

Howdy Everyone!

I'm Matt aka The New Fish On The Block, and I have been in the hobby for a little over 11 years. My first real reef tank was a Biocube 29g and that did relatively well for many year and was running until 2017 when I got my first big tank, a RSR 350 G1. That tank is still running to this day and resides at my parent's house.

In 2023, I moved into a new place along with a 15 gallon Fluval Flex, setup as a reef tank. Almost immediately I wanted to go bigger, so I spent hours browsing different tanks, and always kept coming back to the Biocube, fast forward to today, I'm a year into the build and thing are going pretty well! It has had its hiccups here and there, but it seems to be progressing quite nicely at this point.

Now on to one of the fun parts IMO....

The Equipment:

Tank / Stand: Coralife Biocube 32G Tank and Stand Combo
Lighting: 1x Noopsyche K7 Pro v3
Return Pump: Stock Biocube Pump (may upgrade in the future)
Circulation: 1x Aqua Illumination Nero 3
ATO: FZONE Auto Top off
Heaters: Eheim Jager Tru Temp 100w
Skimmer: NONE YET
Rock/Sand: Custom Aquascape by @Aquaticaptitude on INSTA, 20 lbs CaribSea Special Grade Reef Sand
Testing: Hanna Checkers and Salifert
RODI: BRS 75 GPD 4 stage

Now for the reason this tank is called “Clownfish Paradise”…

The Livestock:

Current Stock:
2x ORA Premium Picasso Clownfish (Amphiprion percula)


In Quarantine:
1x Pink Spotted watchman goby (Cryptocentrus leptocephalus)
1x Yellow Clown Goby (Gobiodon okinawae)


Future Fish?
Orange Spotted Filefish Pair (These are a definite maybe, I know their reputation in terms of difficulty but have seen others have success and I like a good challenge, I might be setting up a dedicated tank in the future if I decide against it for this one)

Trio or Small group of Green Banded Gobies (the more probable choice)


Invertabrates:

Anemone:

1x Yellow Tip Magnificent Anemone (Heteractis magnifica) - This is the centerpiece of the tank, and all future stocking decisions will be made around it, as it is something I have wanted to keep for several years.


Shrimp:
1x Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis)


Clean Up Crew:

2x JUMBO Nassarius Snails (Nassarius vibex) - these guys are HUGE and are great scavengers.
2x Cerith Snails (Cerithium sp.)
5-10x Misc. Dwarf Hermits (Mixed sp.)
5x Ninja Star Astrea Snails ( Astrea sp.)

Corals:

1x Neon Green Toadstool Frag

More to come for sure!


Pictures:

These are the most current ones:

 

[The new fish on the block]

Bump.

Accidentally posted this before it was ready, if you saw this thread and it was blank, it’s because I edited the text to be white. Haha

Here’s a picture of the Magnifica I took last night:

 

[fishnchip]

following!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[The new fish on the block]

A little Monday Night FTS:

The Mag scooted itself over towards the middle of the rock during the day, I’m almost positive it is looking for more light, so I dropped the height of my light about 6 inches.

 

[The new fish on the block]

Nothing too important to update on ATM:

The Magnifica is still doing good, it’s starting to spread out a little bit more. I also added a piece of diffuser on to the K7 pro and it got rid of most of the annoying disco ball effect. The set up in the picture is temporary. I have a shade/ diffuser holder for the light coming in the mail which will make it look a lot more aesthetically pleasing. It is currently Hanging up there by a single piece of packing tape. Lol
I will be getting some corals in from Aqua SD and on Wednesday and will update once those are settled in.

 

[The new fish on the block]

A few updates:

Diffuser arrived for the K7 pro, and it’s perfect! It got rid of the disco ball effect!

New corals:

Red Ring Micro Favia

Agent Orange Pavona

Ultra Aussie Acan Lord

Leprechaun Leptastrea

Rose Rim Blastomusa Wellsi

I also added an old AI Prime HD as a 6500K spotlight for the Magnifica as I felt it needed more light, I tried turning the K7 Pro up but I would have been getting 200+ PAR levels on the sand bed, and most of the corals would not do well with that.

 

[anything prints]

i make some goode media baskets for this tank and others if you need.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

A few updates:

Diffuser arrived for the K7 pro, and it’s perfect! It got rid of the disco ball effect!

New corals:

Red Ring Micro Favia

Agent Orange Pavona

Ultra Aussie Acan Lord

Leprechaun Leptastrea

Rose Rim Blastomusa Wellsi

I also added an old AI Prime HD as a 6500K spotlight for the Magnifica as I felt it needed more light, I tried turning the K7 Pro up but I would have been getting 200+ PAR levels on the sand bed, and most of the corals would not do well with that.

Those are some great new frags! Where did you get them from?

 

[The new fish on the block]

Those are some great new frags! Where did you get them from?

Thanks I got them from AquaSD

 

[The new fish on the block]

Got some good pics of the clowns tonight after work:

 

[Northern Flicker]

Cool tank! The idea with the Prime to provide some higher par in spotlight area was clever.

 

[The new fish on the block]

Cool tank! The idea with the Prime to provide some higher par in spotlight area was clever.

Thank you!

I can’t take credit for the idea though as I borrowed it from @atoll.

But the nem loves it!

 

[The new fish on the block]

Added a diffuser to the Prime HD spotlight, as well as 1/4 in dual RFG’s to randomize the flow a little more. I may switch to the 1/2 version if it seems to reduce the flow too much.

I’m sure it has to do with one or both of the upgrades, but the mag started walking towards the right side of the rock yesterday, I don’t think it can go anywhere but on that top shelf, so it should be fine. I am keeping an eye on it.

Other than that it seems to be doing great!


I have 2 new fish that just have a couple weeks left of quarantine that I cant wait to add to the tank.

 

[The new fish on the block]

October Tank Update!

It’s been a minute since my last update, things with the Magnifica seem to be going smoothly!

Also I added some new additions:

1x Pintail Fairy Wrasse
1x Yellow Clown Goby

Before anyone says anything about the first one. I know this tank is too small for the wrasse long term. He was originally supposed to go in my bigger tank however, whenever I put him in, he was getting harassed by my yellowfin damsel, so he ended up in here.

These fish just came out of quarantine and originally I had a pink spotted goby, but the day after I put them in, I found the goby on the bottom of the tank getting picked on by hermit crabs, I’m not really sure what happened